Register & Style

Assignment of: sociolinguistics

Assignment topic :register and style

Submitted on: 12th dec.2012

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Register & Style

In sociolinguistics, a general term for any distinctive form of a language or linguistic expression

is Language varieties. Linguists commonly use language variety, as a cover term for any of the

overlapping subcategories of a language, including dialect, idiolect, register, and social dialect.

It's clear that there are many systematic differences between different languages. By

“systematic” we mean describable by rules. Languages also contain many levels of internal

variation, related to such variables as age, region, socioeconomic status, group identification,

and others. Internal Variation is the property of languages having different ways of expressing

the same meaning. Importantly, this refers to within language, not across language, differences.

In spite of internal variation there are two major varieties of language i.e. dialect and register.

According to M.A.K. Halliday, there are two main types of variation in language, social and

functional. Dialects are characterized by social or regional variation

Dialect is a complex concept, for linguists a dialect is the collection of attributes (phonetic,

phonological, syntactic, morphological, and semantic) that make one group of speakers

noticeably different from another group of speakers of the same language. So dialect is a variety

related to user. A dialect spoken by one individual is called an idiolect. Everyone has small

differences between their language and the language which people use to communicate, creating

a minimal dialect".1

Every native speaker is normally in command of several different language styles, called

registers, which are varied according the formality of the occasion, and the medium used

(speech, writing, or sign).

The register and style are the study objects of our project. The major purpose of selecting this

topic is to understand the significance of different registers impinge on English language. Style

distributes English language in two categories i.e. formal and vernacular. So, register and style

being the foundation of our venture allows appreciating different varieties in English language.

1 http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/

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Register & Style

Halliday the father of register, defines it as the relationship between language (and other semiotic

forms) and the features of the context. Register is also used to indicate degrees of formality in

language use. Register is a semantic phenomenon in the sense that ‘register is the clustering of

semantic features according to situation type’. As Figure 1 shows, the semantic stratum is, for

Halliday, where language interfaces with the eco-social environment. At this interface, register is

‘the necessary mediating concept that enables us to establish the continuity between a text and its

socio semiotic environment’.

2

The concept of linguistic register has been described by Trudgill as follows:

“Linguistic varieties that are linked to occupations, professions or topics have been termed

registers. The register of law, for example, is different from the register of medicine, which in

2 http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1634&context=artspapers&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dregister%2Baccording%2Bto%2Bhalliday%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D%26bih%3D%26gbv%3D2%26gs_l%3Dheirloom-hp.3.2.0l10.5833.13757.0.16700.19.14.1.4.5.0.554.2850.3j5j4j1j0j1.14.0...0.0...1c.1.ZzFcyYEmZH8%26oq%3Dregister%2Baccording%2B#search=%22register%20according%20halliday%22

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Halliday’s

Register

Register & Style

turn is different from the language of engineering and so on. Registers are usually characterized

solely by vocabulary differences; either by the use of particular words, or by the use of words in

a particular sense.”3

Registers are kind of language produced by the social situation. As Ferguson said, “people

participating in recurrent communication situations tend to develop similar vocabularies, similar

features of intonation, and characteristic bits of syntax and phonology that they use in these

situations.”

Halliday categorized linguistic features (specific expressions, lexico-grammatical and

phonological features) in the three dimensions of field, mode and tenor which help to determine

the functional variety of a language .These three parameters can be used to specify the context of

situation in which language is used. Field, tenor and mode are called register variables and a

description of the values for each of these variables at a given time of language use is a register

description of a text4.

Field of discourse is defined as “the total event, in which the text is functioning, together with

the purposive activity of the speaker or writer; it thus includes the subject-matter as one

element in it”. The field describes activities and processes that are happening at the time of

speech. The analysis of this parameter focuses on the entire situation, e.g. when a mother talks to

her child. The field of discourse has to do with the focus of the activity, in which we are

engaged, to recognize the culture. It refers to what is happening, to the nature of the social action

that is taking place, what the participants are engaged in.

Similarly, Gregory and Carroll state that the field of discourse is the consequence of the user's

purposive role, what his language is about, what experience he is verbalizing, what is going on

through language. Sometimes field can be glossed as the topic of the situation but Martin's

defines it in terms of institutional focus, or social activity type is more useful to capture the field

in situations where language is accompanying action.

3 http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/messeas/regrep/node2.html4 Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleseshttp://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/5174/1/RAEI_19_09.pdf

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Register & Style

In the educational and training world, knowledge is most commonly presented linguistically (the

study of language), so perhaps this mode receives the most attention from a learning standpoint

(Chomsky, 1988). The linguistic mode includes verbal communication, reading, watching (e.g.

learn the rule of chess through observation), etc 5

The mode of discourse refers to “the function of the text in the event, including therefore

both the channel taken by the language – spoken or written, extempore or prepared – and

its [genre], or rhetorical mode, as narrative, didactic, persuasive, ‘phatic communion’ and

so on” according to Halliday this variable determines the role and function of language in a

particular situation. When analyzing the mode of a text, the main question is ‘What is achieved

by the use of language in this context?’ For example, a fairy tale (in written form) may have a

narrative or entertaining function. A spoken conversation can be argumentative (in a discussion)

or phatic (e.g. to contact someone or to keep in touch with someone). Mode refers to the channel

of communication6. Modes are divided in two categories’: The Nonlinguistic Mode, The

Affective Mode

Richardson suggested that the non linguistic memory includes mental pictures, smell, kinesthetic,

tactile, auditory, and taste. At first, we might believe that they are entirely different structures;

however these representations are quite similar to each other in that these nonlinguistic

sensations function in a similar fashion in permanent memory .

According to (Stuss & Benson,) affective mode is our feeling, emotions, and mood 7

Tenor of discourse sometimes also referred to as style according to Esser, describing the people

that take part in an event as well as their relationships and statuses. According to Halliday “The

tenor refers to the type of role interaction, the set of relevant social relations, permanent and

temporary, among the participants involved” There might be a specific hierarchy between the

interlocutors, e.g. when the head of a business talks to an employee, or they may have only a

temporary relationship, e.g. when a person asks an unknown pedestrian for the time.

5 http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/learning/theories.html 6 http://www.tc.columbia.edu/faculty/kleifgen/tech_n_lit/notes_ftm_halliday.htm 7 http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/learning/theories.html

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Register & Style

The tenor of discourse is defined in terms of the players, the actors or rather the interacting roles

that are involved in the creation of the text. It refers to who is taking part, to the nature of the

participants, their status and role: what kinds of role relationship obtain among the participants,

including permanent and temporary relationships of one kind or another, both the types of speech

role that they are taking on in the dialogue and the whole cluster of socially significant

relationships in which they are involved. This relationship that the speaker establishes with the

audience in relation to the tenor of discourse has been emphasized by Gregory and Carroll as

well.8

Halliday suggested that of all the uses we make of language, language is intended to fulfill three

main functions: a function for relating experience (experiential), a function for creating

interpersonal relationships (interpersonal) and a function for organizing information (textual)

(Eggins, 1994, 2004).

Relation of the text to the context of situation (Halliday, 1989b: 26).9

SITUATION

Feature of the context Realized by TEXT:

Functional component of

semantic system

Field of discourse

(what is going on)

Experiential meanings:

(Transitivity, naming, etc.)

Tenor of discourse

(who are taking part)

Interpersonal meanings:

(Mood, modality, person, etc.)

Mode of discourse

(role assigned to language)

Textual meanings:

(theme, information, cohesive

8 Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleseshttp://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/5174/1/RAEI_19_09.pdf9 http://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/5174/1/RAEI_19_09.pdf

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Register & Style

relations)

Studying these variations is not only reveals a great deal about speaker’s strategies with respect

to variables such as social class, gender, ethnicity, and age. It also affords us the opportunity to

observe the linguistic change in progress.

In sociolinguistics, a style is a set of linguistic variants to which specific social meanings are

attributed. 10The study of sociolinguistic variation examines the relation between social identity

and ways of speaking.

Style is the study object (but not the only one) of stylistics. What style is has always been open to

dispute. The word style may be known to many human beings and they may be able to describe

fairly easily what it means. Nevertheless, the multiplicity and complexity goes far beyond the

word itself. The following are examples of some renowned linguists and their definitions and

concepts.

Leech and Short defines style as “the way in which language is used in a given context, by a

given person, for a given purpose, and so on.” 11According to leech’s definition style may be

seen as a particular way of speaking. Style therefore refers to the wide range of strategic actions

and performances that speakers engage in, to construct them and their social live.

Style Includes the Word choice; author’s choice of words and Syntax, the way words are

arranged to form sentences. Syntax encompasses word order, sentence length, sentence focus,

and punctuation. Wales stresses that style “is distinctive: in essence, the set or sum of linguistic

features that seem to be characteristic: whether of register, genre or period etc”.

Carter and Stockwell demonstrates style as” an Ornamentation of the sense of an utterance”

but many linguists reject this idea and says that it is always motivated, for example, by the

speaker’s personal choices and belief systems and socio-cultural factors at every level.

10 http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam031/00068947.pdf11 KEY TERMS IN STYLISTICS by NINA NORGAARD, BEATRIX BUSSE AND ROCIO MONTORO

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Register & Style

There are Five Main Language Styles including the ultra-formal style, a very formal way of

addressing an audience, using archaic language (Thou, Hath, Thee, etc.)

The Formal Style : 

The Formal Style Difficult words (abstract nouns) examples, Liberty, hegemony, sanctification,

etc.

Complex sentences with clauses example “He had been prepared to lie, to bluster, and to remain

sullenly unresponsive; but, reassured by the good-humored intelligence of the Controller’s face,

he decided to tell the truth, straightforwardly.” Aldous Huxley, Brave New World.

The Modified Formal Style: 

The Modified Formal Style a greater number of plain English words Active voice used rather

than passive: Active: The girl walked the dog. Passive: The dog was walked by the girl. The use

of abbreviated verb forms wouldn’t, can’t, shouldn’t etc.

The Colloquial Style : 

The Colloquial Style Everyday English- words you would use when talking to your

friends/family. Filler words used: E.g. Like, know what I mean, o.k., etc. Shorter more assertive

sentences: This is crazy!

The ultra-colloquial style: 

The ultra-colloquial style VERY CASUAL Speaking style (easy words): e.g: Yo, How’s it

goin’? Omits main verbs: Whatcha gonna do? He [would] like to go but he can’t. Omits little

function words (a, of, to):

Style also includes stylistic devices like hyperbole, imagery, irony, etc. Phonology: alliteration,

assonance Graphology: presentational devices: bullets, block capitals for headlines, etc

Allan Bell, a linguist from New Zealand, developed a model for the analysis of stylistic variation

known as audience design. He claimed that in designing our style of speech at any particular

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Register & Style

time, we assess the sociolinguistic characteristics of our addressees and adapt the way we speak

to conform to these characteristics.

In accordance with style, Nick Coupland investigated the extent to which an assistant in a travel

agency in Cardiff, Wales shifted her speech to match that of social class of her clients. One of the

variables he studied was the glottalisation of (t), and the result of this part of his study has been

shown in the fig. these results show how the assistant altered her use of this variable quite

radically when speaking to clients of different social classes.

12

Travel agency assistant’s style shifting to clients: (t) glottalisation

The model of audience design helps to explain why people seem, to a non native ear, to ‘pick up’

accent of places they stay in. British or north American English speaker spending a couple of

years in Australia would have a pre dominantly Australian English speaking audience, and would

accommodate to that variety so often when conversing that, to known Australians, they may

12 Linguistics An introduction by Andrew Radford, Martin Atkinson, David Britain, Harald Clahsen, Andrew Spencer

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Perc

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use

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Register & Style

‘sound like an Aussie’. What this indicates, then, is that variation in language is constrained not

only by the social characteristics of the speaker, but also those of the addressee in any

conversation; variation is also internationally determined.

This assignment has offered a critical description of the linguist variation with great emphasis on

register including field, tenor, mode and style. Considering Halliday’s reflection, I believe that

the approach I have brought along here from an integrated perspective, that every language is

interwoven with specific registers and style which can cannot be separated. Both register and

style help to develop the richness and universality in language.

In our project we have analyzed that any professor or a teacher has a specific style and register.

They use specific and clear accent, focuses on phonology and their specific style includes

expression less face, rigid look on face. We have also monitored the register of army that they

say Roger that on understanding any message instead of ok, counter for attack, words like head

quarters, nerve center are utilized instead of main office, raid for forced entry in any house.

There is a specific register for describing any part of body utilized by doctors. These types of

register are certainly alien for any common person in fact fulfilling the purpose of register. The

specific register employed by doctors is as follows;

Body Part Medical Term

Head Cranium

Forehead Frontalis

Eyeball Globe

Eye Socket Orbit

Eye Whites Cornea

Eye Color Ring Iris

Eye Hole Pupil

Ears Pinna

Ear Canal External Meatus

Nostrils Nares

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Register & Style

Cheeks Malar region

Cheek Bone Zygomatic arch

Lips Labia

Tongue Lingulus

Mouth Oral Cavity

Gums Gingiva

Chin Mentis

Teeth Dentition

A cosmetic is a wide field of study, particularly famous among girls. But the fact is that all girls

apply makeup but are still unaware of the exact names of the utensils used to apply makeup. Just

choosing the type of brushes in our project we have found out that there is a specific register for

even the makeup brushes a minor entity in whole field of cosmetics, about which most of the

people are still unaware. Types of brushes with their particular identity are as follows;

FOUNDATION BRUSH: Designed to achieve a smooth and flawless finish, the bristles

are tightly packed with a tapered tip for fluid application.

CONCEALER/CAMOUFLAGE BRUSH: A soft bristled, flat brush with a wider base

and a pointed tip.

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Register & Style

DUO FIBRE BRUSH: Made from a blend of goat and synthetic fibers this brush is ideal

for buffing and blending color.

BRONZER/POWDER BRUSH: Soft, full and rounded, this brush can be used for both

compact powder and bronzer.

MINERAL POWDER BRUSH: A thick bundled brush that can sometimes be used both

wet and dry.

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Register & Style

FAN POWDER BRUSH: Created for use with loose powder, the fine fan sweeps a light

dusting of powder onto the skin for a soft, velvety effect. 

BLUSHER BRUSH: Made with fine, gentle fibers the blusher brush has a rounded head

which is perfect for giving a pop of color to the apples of your cheeks

Our project focuses on another important register which is very common and handy but retaining

its specific terminology and vocabulary it retains its complexity, it is culinary items; items used

to cook food. The culinary items which we have chosen are knives. Specific names of each knife

are as follows;

1. Chef’s knife

It is used for chopping, slicing, precision cutting, crushing and carving.

2. Cleaver

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Register & Style

Cleavers are designed to force their way through bones like an axe.

3. Chinese cleaver

They are well suited to any chopping process but are very useful for slicing and precision cuts

such as julienne and chopping herbs.

4. Boning knife

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Register & Style

This knife is used for separating meat and connective tissue from bones during butchering and

trimming

5. Paring knife

 It can be used for peeling and trimming, cutting and turning, garnishes and creative work,

including fruit and vegetable carving.

6. Turning knife

It has a curved blade it is most suited to shaping vegetables by turning.

7. Palette knife

The straight blade is used principally for lifting, shaping and scraping.

8. Serrated slicer

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Register & Style

This knife is a variation of the ham slicer and though it may be used to slice ham, it may produce

a rough looking product.

9. Decorating knife

This knife has a horizontally zigzagged edge, which enables decorative cuts and patterns to be

made generally in softer materials like margarine, butter and chocolate

10. Grapefruit knives

This is another specialized tool which is specifically designed to make a curved cut to loosen the

flesh of grapefruit from their skin for service. 

References

http://applij.oxfordjournals.org/content/II/1/45.extract

http://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/5174/1/RAEI_19_09.pdf

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/popcult/handouts/register/register.html

http://www.doctorsecrets.com/medical-terms/medical-terms-body-parts.html

http://toolboxes.flexiblelearning.net.au/demosites/series4/409/tools/store/equip/

k_type.html

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